Needing More Than Dusting
by Solitary Shadow
Summary: Firstfic. And a weird pairing already. Lumiere and Belle have a conversation, and the story involves a cloth and a can of polish. Very odd. Lumiere x Belle [Yeah, I'm crazy. It's NOT smut. I couldn't find another way to summarize this story.]


**Disclaimer:** Movie version of Beauty and the Beast belongs to Disney. Belle, Lumiere and related characters also belong to Disney.

**Author's Note:** Riiiight... This is my first time writing for this fandom, and I must say, I only saw the sequel to 'Beauty and the Beast' and about three-quarters of the original movie itself. So lots of characters may sound rather OOC. I apologize for that.

Anyway, a short Lumiere x Belle oneshot. Because Lumiere needs love, damnit.

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"My, Lumiere. Your parts..." Belle gently picked up the candlestick and looked at him. "What you need is a good dose of polishing."

"Oh?" Lumiere looked down at himself, seeing some bits of ashes and general dust gathered from years of disuse. And _Mon Dieu_, were his parts _rusting_? "Non... There's no need for that, Mademoiselle. I... I will tend to it myself."

"No, no." Belle laughed softly. "Take a break from your duties for a while, Lumiere."

"But... our master..."

"It's alright." With that, the young woman walked out, holding Lumiere in her hand, to the room where she knew there was some polish and a nice table top.

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Lumiere looked at Belle all the time she was walking. How beautiful she is, he thought, so pure, so kind. She was exquisite, a real beauty. She lived up to her name. The candlestick vaguely wondered what her father or mother had thought of her when she was young; was she just as beautiful then? Had she always been this gentle and kind? He thought so. Such beauty and lovable personality didn't just come suddenly.

Alas, it wasn't his position to fall for her - he was a mere servant to his master, nothing more. His master was supposed to be the one to love her. Even so, Lumiere couldn't help but fantasize about her every now and then. Her kind and caring attitude was loved by all the other servants in the castle, whether they'd be spoons, cups, dishes, you name it.

Oh, if only he were human again! If only he _wasn't_ a servant, and free to love anyone he wanted-

"Here we are!" Belle entered a room, set him down on the table, and went to a drawer, searching for the polish. Lumiere sighed inwardly. He'd wished that journey to last forever; only the two, with Lumiere lost in endless fantasies...

He looked up to see Belle holding a piece of white cloth and a can of polish. "I'll get you cleaned up in no time." She smiled, sat down and began her work.

"Mademoiselle... are you sure that... um..."

"Yes, of course, Lumiere. It can't be that difficult." She paused, looking at him. "Would you mind extinguishing the flames on either side of you? It wouldn't do if anything burned..."

"Of course, Mademoiselle." He blew out the two flames and turned back to her.

"Alright, I'll start from here." She picked him up again, and turned him gently around so his right 'arm' faced her. With the piece of cloth she began to polish the golden metal, cleaning away all the rust, ashes and wax. After that was done she started on the other 'arm'.

As she did so, Belle couldn't help but think about Lumiere. When she'd arrived at the castle, confused and frightened, Lumiere had been the first to be kind to her and he'd helped her in many circumstances. She liked the way he talked; his smooth French accent complete with a nice voice. He was alos a good singer as well - she still remembered the time he'd sang and entertained her when she was still new to the castle. His way of using a golden cap for a beret and a match for a walking stick was very amusing to see.

Belle also thought that Lumiere was the real gentleman around the place. Cogsworth was nice, but rather pessimistic and pompous at times. Chip was still so young and naive. Every servant was kind to her, but it was Lumiere who had struck her as being a gentleman. In a way, he was also quite handsome as well - for a candlestick. She wondered what he would look like if he was a human.

While Belle was thinking all this, Lumiere was having a few thoughts of his own. He was becoming quite aware that he was blushing under the attention that the young woman was giving him. Although he was a candlestick, he could still very much feel, and the feel of the cloth sliding over his body was enough to make him blush (or burn) very brightly indeed. He was becoming clean again, but the candlestick hardly noticed this.

"Finished." Belle stepped back and admired her work. Lumiere was now free of dirt and rust, and shone a bright gold. "You look perfect, Lumiere."

"Merci, Mademoiselle." He bowed respectively to her, partly to conceal his blush and partly to show his appreciation.

"You're welcome." The woman smiled, and put away the cloth and the polish in the drawer again.

"What would I say if the master saw me?" Lumiere asked himself, but Belle heard.

"Just tell him the truth?" She replied, sitting to face him again. The candlestick shook his head.

"Our master has..." He looked around furtively to see that no one was eavesdropping. "... He hasn't exactly cared about the cleanliness of any servants in this castle. It's been ten years since anyone polished or cleaned us. The dishes and the cutlery clean themselves automatically, and the others get a dusting once a week. None of us have the hands to properly polish or clean off all the dirt - a full decade we've spent, rusting away, bored and tired of doing absolutely_ nothing_. But then you came along, Mademoiselle-" He nodded. "And it feels like the good old days are back again."

"I'm glad to hear that..." Belle's expression grew happy. "This is so different from what I'm used to in the village I was born."

"Why is that so?"

"All the men in the village seemed to view me as an object, nothing more. They thought me odd when I often went down to the bookshop to borrow books. Like it was totally strange or something." Her eyes darkened with sadness at the memories. "And there was this man... he was a hunter, and his name was Gaston. He came to me one day to propose, and said the most outrageous things ever - I had to make him leave in the end." She sighed. "Why are men like that to women?"

Lumiere was stunned, fuming and feling guilty all at once. How could the villagers do that to such a woman? That was unbelievable. One thing in this court was that women and men servants were treated the same, with exactly same wages and all. There was no boundary between their treatment, not at all. It was unheard of. Having served at the royal court all his life, the treatment Belle had endured was difficult to comprehend.

And about the man called Gaston - Lumiere could have shouted in anger. How dare he? A man like that didn't deserve to be with Belle. If that man ever came to the castle, Lumiere made himself a mental note to burn the hunter, just enough to set him fleeing from the castle. On the other hand, he felt guilty as well. He hadn't meant to open any old wounds. Nevertheless, he was rather hurt by her last comment, and kept silent.

Belle sensed that Lumiere was keeping quiet, and guessed the reason for his silence. "You're different, Lumiere." She whispered. "Everyone in this castle is different. They're so kind to me. Cogsworth - Chip - Mrs. Potts - everyone treats me so well here."

"It is our duty and pleasure to do so, Mademoiselle." Lumiere replied, cheering up again at her words.

"Oh," She giggled. "Lumiere, you're so sweet." With that, she bent down and gave him a gentle kiss on what would pass as his mouth. Lumiere gasped and blushed at this act; all the three flames he had burnt brightly than ever, and he was just completely red all over.

"Are you all right?" Belle asked, concerned.

"Mademoiselle... Belle... I... uhhh..." And Lumiere fainted dead away, toppling backwards on to the table.

Belle was shocked for only a moment. A small laugh escaping her, she picked the candlestick up in her hand once more, more adoringly and gentle than ever. She exited the room holding Lumiere, back up to her room where she knew that a stack of books, and Mrs. Potts, with Chip would be waiting with a nice, hot cup of tea.

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If you think that this was nice, that's fine. If you think this was cute, that's perfectly alright. If you think this was disturbing, that is also fine. Even if you think this was complete, utter twaddle, it's still okay.

Just don't flame me, please...!! Seeing as this was my first fic.

The whle thing was based on a line from 'Be Our Guest' where Lumiere sings 'Ten years we've been rusting, needing so much more than dusting...'. Then, my warped mind did the rest of the work. All because Lumiere is love.

Thnaks for enjoying it... I hope you did...


End file.
